


look into your eyes and the sky's the limit

by MaddieandChimney



Series: AU: Pour Some Sugar On Me [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M, This is not NSFW, but there is some 'smutty' bits, he's an absolute dork, stripper chim, their first date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26431876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: This is crazy, right? She barely knows him and somehow she feels drawn to him in a way she can't begin to explain. Maddie isn’t quite sure she’s ever experienced anyone like him, she’s been on dates, she’s been married before but this is—she doesn’t know how to describe it other than the fact every little thing he does takes her breath away and causes her skin to heat up.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: AU: Pour Some Sugar On Me [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898176
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	look into your eyes and the sky's the limit

Maddie takes a breath as she stares up at the restaurant in front of her, shaking hands smoothing down the long, low-cut black dress that clung to all the right places as she tries to force her foot to take another step forward. She’s nervous, more nervous than she’s ever been on a date and she has no idea whether that’s a good enough sign that should drive her forward or a bad sign that really should have her running away.

Their first date that wasn’t really a date had only been twelve hours previously, so this was crazy, right? She had somehow gone from being forced into a strip club a week before, to seeing said stripper of her fantasies in some strange act of coincidence in the grocery store to—well, to whatever today was. The run had been as nice as a run at seven in the morning possibly could be, she can still remember the bright smile on his face when she had pulled up in the parking lot ten minutes before they were meant to meet.

Running around the park together, making small talk about LA and how she was finding it because he had pretty much been there her entire life but she had only moved there a few years before, had turned into him buying her coffee. And she had completely forgotten in that time how they had even met, she hates to admit it, even to herself, but she’d had a preconceived notion of what a male stripper was and he was _nothing_ like she had imagined. He was a little dorky, extremely chatty, intelligent but most of all, he had made her laugh in a way she hadn’t in years.

So, she’s standing there in front of one of the best Italian restaurants that is renowned for being difficult to book without a reservation weeks in advance, after Howie had told her he had connections. And for the first time in a long time, she doesn’t know what to do, it all seems too rushed, too good to be true and if she’s honest with herself, his career choice is holding her back as well. “Hey, I uh—got the window seat, I could see you just hanging outside…”

She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn’t even seen him walking out of the restaurant until he’s standing right in front of her. Her cheeks flush a dark shade of red when she realises she’s been caught out and she has no explanation beyond the fact that the man in front of her just makes her question everything and anything. He must think she’s crazy and she’s half-expecting him to just say they should call it a day. Instead, he holds out his hand and he’s grinning at her and she’s just so completely lost in the fate of it all that she can’t stop herself from nervously smiling back.

“Come on, you told me you love pizza and this place does it best and if you don’t want it to go beyond a good meal, some fine wine and great conversation, then that’s okay.” There’s just something about the way he speaks, the kindness in his voice and the endearing smile he wears on his face as he tilts his head to the side, there’s just something so trusting about him that pulls her forwards enough to take his hand in her own as she bites down on her lip.

“You make me so nervous.” She finally admits out loud, feeling stupid for even saying it but he only shrugs his shoulders and laughs, until he’s taking her other hand and pressing it against his chest and she can feel the way his heart is thumping, only causing her to blush even more as she chews down on her bottom lip and looks up at him with wide eyes.

“I could heartly wait to see you again.”

And just like that, Maddie laughs loudly, slapping him on the chest with a massive grin on her face, shaking her head, “You’re an idiot.”

There’s a look of pure pride on his face at the sound of her laughter, and he seems comfortable enough in the moment to drop her hand from his and wrap an arm around her waist instead to gently lead her into the restaurant, holding the door open for her as he does.

Maddie isn’t quite sure she’s ever experienced anyone like him, she’s been on dates, she’s been married before but this is—she doesn’t know how to describe it other than the fact every little thing he does takes her breath away and causes her skin to heat up. It’s the way he pulls the chair out for her and presses his lips to her cheek before he moves to sit down himself, it’s the way he doesn’t order for her and instead, patiently waits as she looks over the menu, it’s the way when she asks for a glass of wine, he orders her the bottle and mostly, it’s the way none of it feels forced or fake.

“You look really handsome.” She finds herself blurting out the moment the waiter leaves with their order, smiling when the man sitting across from her actually blushes, as though he hasn’t heard that compliment probably a thousand times before. She supposes it’s different, when he’s sitting there fully dressed but somehow, despite what he does for a living, the fact that he’s still coy enough to blush at a compliment, it tugs on her heart enough that the gathers the confidence to take his hand that had been resting on the table.

It’s crazy, she feels like a teenager again as she brushes her fingers along the back of his hand, tracing small circles and she’s suddenly stuck between wanting to get to know who he is and what his life has been like and wanting to get to know him in _other_ ways. Ways that most definitely do not involve clothes. “I should have said this when I first saw you but honestly, beautiful doesn’t seem to be enough and I was trying to think of something closer to how you look—you just—you look phenomenal, Maddie.”

It should be cheesy but he looks embarrassed, stammering over the right words to say slightly as he looks at her with the kindest eyes she’s ever seen. Usually, she’s not good at taking compliments, but for him, she finds herself nodding a little, her cheeks flushing once again, “Thank you.”

The conversation between then flows easily after her initial awkwardness and she feels the loss when she has to pull her hand from his when their food arrives. “You haven’t asked me about my job.” He finally points out, halfway through their main course, causing Maddie to shrug her shoulders as she shifts the pasta around the bowl for a second. He’s right, she had asked about his childhood, had apologised when he told her that his mother had died when he was a teenager, she’d asked about college and was surprised to find out he had studied Business, she’d asked about his friends and if he had any family. “Most women—well, I guess it’s all they can talk about, all they see.”

Maddie only shakes her head before she takes a breath, “I know that what we do is obviously a big part of our lives but we’re a lot more than the jobs we choose to do. But whilst we’re on the subject, do you enjoy it?”

“The day I stop enjoying it, I’ll quit.” He says it with so much conviction that she knows that he’s being completely truthful, “I used to be a firefighter, you know, like your brother but uh—my best friend, well, my brother really, died on the job, right in front of me and it just didn’t feel like somewhere I wanted to be anymore. Before my mom died, I promised her that no matter what, I’d always be happy and I’d do the things that make me happy and I’ve lived by that ever since.”

She takes a sip of her wine as she listens to him, giving her a moment to pause too and gulp down the lump in her throat when he mentions his mom once more, knowing that must have been the most defining moment in his life. Slowly, she nods her head, “That’s a good way to live, I uh—I spent a really long time in an unhappy marriage and I’ve spent the last few years here trying to be happy again, to live my best life as my brother always says.”

“You and your brother are close?”

“There’s seven years between us and our parents weren’t exactly interested in parenting so we were really close and then I get married when I was twenty and he was only thirteen and we grew apart for a really long time but when I left my husband, he was the only person I could think to run to. And somehow, it was as though the previous twelve years hadn’t happened and I’ve watched him grow into an amazing firefighter and man over the last three years. And now my little brother is married to a man he adores and who adores him and he’s a dad to an amazing eight-year-old boy, it’s crazy.”

Chimney is grinning at her, widening with every word she utters until she laughs, “Sorry—my brother is everything to me, I guess. I get a little—”

“No, never apologise for loving your brother, Maddie. It’s nice and even though he was extremely drunk when I met him, he seems like a great guy. I have a little brother, actually, I’ve never met him, he lives in Korea with my dad and there is a twenty-three year age gap between us so I don’t think we’d be too close even if he lived here.”

Maddie tilts her head to the side as she looks at him, nodding her head a little before she reaches for his hand over the table once again, no longer nervous about the fact she can hardly keep her hands off him. “There’s this really nice ice cream place near my apartment…” This isn’t like her, she’s usually more reserved, patient but all she can think about right then is kissing him, touching him and—really, she just doesn’t want the night to end. “Actually, I still have leftover wedding cake _in_ my apartment.”

“Oh? Oh—” It takes him a second and she can’t stop herself from laughing when he practically yanks his hand from hers to lift his hand up for the bill, all too eagerly as she takes the opportunity to down what’s left of her wine.

Maddie isn’t entirely certain how they make it from the restaurant to his car, she can barely remember telling him her address as she had nervously sat in the passenger seat of his car, gripping a little tightly onto the edge of the seat. Her heart is thumping hard and fast and she tries to talk herself out of it but nothing she tells herself changes her mind between the restaurant and her apartment.

She doesn’t know how she manages it, she can feel him hovering behind her as they walk towards her apartment, her breathing already heavy in anticipation and she tries to hide the way her hand is shaking when she unlocks the door. It’s not until it’s open and he’s stepped in behind her that she turns around and practically slams herself against him. Her arms wrap around his neck, fingers gripping tightly in his hair as they kiss. It doesn’t feel as though it’s only been a day, the way she’s kissing him feels like months of slow burn sexual tension leading into that single moment. “Howie.” She only pulls back when her chest feels as though it’s burning, her breathing heavy as her fingers move to unbutton his shirt the moment he lets his suit jacket fall to the floor.

His lips move to her neck, teeth grazing along her skin and everywhere his lips touch leave a trail of fire in their wake and she realises that she wants— _needs_ so much more as she pulls his shirt down his arms, letting her hands graze along every muscle as she does, paying particular attention to the tattoo on his shoulder until his shirt is on the floor and every fantasy she’d had of this moment is overridden by the fact that it’s Howie standing in front of her, not the Chimney she had been imagining in her head. Still, there’s a knot in her stomach as she runs her hand down his chest, feeling the way he tenses as she smirks.

His own hands move to her back, easily pulling down the zipper until he’s pulling back and looking her in the eyes, “Are you sure, Maddie?”

“More sure than I’ve ever been.”

The second she utters those words his lips are back against hers as he practically yanks down the dress she had so carefully picked out earlier that night. He makes it look so easy when he lifts her, legs wrapping around his waist and nails digging into his shoulders as she moans his name against his lips as he blindly stumbles his way towards her couch. The moment her back hits the cushions, his lips pull from hers, only to immediately move towards her neck, down her chest, trailing down further until she feels as though she can’t breathe.

And she knows this is definitely, unequivocally the most sure she has ever been about anything in her life.


End file.
